City officials hope that Westminster Station, near West 70th Avenue and Federal Boulevard on the city’s south side, could someday become more than a Park-n-Ride but the center of a vibrant mixed-use, transit-oriented district.

“Originally, RTD was just calling for a surface lot,” city economic development coordinator Jenni Grafton said. “But we knew the potential, not only because of how close it is to downtown but as a real catalyst for redevelopment in south Westminster.”

To that end, $75 million in public investments in the station and surrounding area — $40 million of which came from the City of Westminster — are nearing completion, highlighted by a new, 40-acre park south of the train platform spanning all the way from Federal to Lowell Boulevard.

John Leyba, The Denver Post

A tour on the B-Line train to the Westminster platform where the city is investing big bucks into the area, including a $40 million park along Little Dry Creek and the Adams County Housing Authority, is already moving forward on a mixed-use affordable housing project at 71st Avenue and Federal.

When completed next spring, Westminster Station Park will host regional trail connections, nature play areas, a 14-foot-wide pedestrian bridge, restrooms and a new road. Little Dry Creek was realigned through the site, lowering the flood elevation and creating a 2.5-acre flood control pond that will later be stocked with fish, senior projects engineer Seth Plas said during a tour last week as part of the Urban Land Institute’s TOD Marketplace conference.

Related Articles

The development community is taking note: The city is in negotiations with a developer to wrap the RTD parking garage with ground-floor retail and market-rate apartments on two sides, Grafton said.

Another apartment developer is under contract to buy the RV dealership east of the garage along Federal, according to city officials.

Construction has already begun on the station’s first transit-oriented development, a five-story, mixed-use affordable housing project being built by the Adams County Housing Authority.

Located at West 71st Avenue and Federal, Alto is the first of two projects the housing authority has planned near the new train station, executive director Don May said. The housing authority began assembling land in the area before the economic downturn hit.

“Knowing that the cost of housing, coupled with transportation, are two of the largest expenditures for families of moderate to low income, we knew this was a great opportunity for us,” May said. “A lot of people we serve are reliant on public transportation.”

The housing authority will have offices in the building, as will the nonprofit Center for Career and Community Enrichment. Most of the apartments will be open to households earning up to 50 percent of area median income, but units will also be available at 30 and 60 percent of AMI.

A second phase could add about 200 more housing units, replacing 180 aging units that the housing authority owns on the development site. Initial plans call for a mix of permanently affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households in addition to some higher-earning households that “aren’t being served by federal programs but are being priced out of the market,” May said.

For Alto, the housing authority hired an architect and construction company known for their work on higher-end apartments, mindful of the stereotypes that affordable housing still combats, he said.

“We want to set a standard,” May said. “We felt it was really important to set the bar a little higher so that subsequent developers would know what’s expected. People should not be able to look visually and say, ‘Oh that’s an affordable unit.’ ”

The city envisions a combination of housing types near the station, with market rate units mixed with various levels of affordability, Grafton said. An official station area plan will go before the Westminster City Council for final approval early next year.

The station is one of three areas in the city, along with Orchard Town Center and Downtown Westminster, that have been strategically eyed for density, she said. Plans call for buildings up to eight stories in the station core.

“This is going to be a much more organic process,” she said. “Some of the business owners have said: ‘You know what? We’re ready to retire. This is great. We’ll get excellent money for our land.’ Others really want to stay and be part of the redevelopment. We’re trying to work at both levels.”

So far, the B-Line has performed well, too — the city had been told to initially expect about 800 passengers per weekday, but the most recent RTD numbers topped 1,400, Grafton said.

More in Real Estate

A White House advisory council on infrastructure Thursday became the latest casualty of the pique of business leaders over President Donald Trump’s response to the hate-fueled violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Two northern Colorado families have sued Weyerhaeuser because flame proofing on floor joists filled their home with a noxious gas. Builder Richmond Homes has promised to replace the joists in their homes and others.